John Purcell
Police Constable

John Purcell

Accident
End of Watch November 24, 1865
Age 35
The Vigil Panel 198 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Found drowned in the River Ceiriog at St. Martins while on night duty.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-GB-DEC-D288ED8D
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
April 8, 2026
Last updated
July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

161 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Police Constable Purcell served with the Denbighshire Constabulary.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Location WLS
Platform Identity dco.den.eng.gb.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 24, 1865
Age 35
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident
Cause Detail Drowned

Police Constable John Purcell is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In WLS, 70 of 106 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 66% of this state's fallen. That is 35 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Denbighshire Constabulary, 3 of 5 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 60% of this agency's fallen.

Denbighshire Constabulary
3
of 5 officers
60% Accident
WLS — Statewide
70
of 106 officers
66% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Purcell's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How John Purcell Compares

Age at End of Watch
35
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Purcell is highlighted in Nov.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897